Ahura Racing’s Anushriya Gulati bagged both the Formula LGB4 Rookie crown and led Round 2 Women’s Category title at the JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship, held over the weekend in Coimbatore. Anushriya had set herself up for the Rookie title by netting a whopping 46 points in the opening round, winning three races and finishing second in two others. In the final round, despite some car troubles, she still managed to finish second in one race and third in three races to garner 31 points for a cumulative tally of 77 points. Besides, the 25-year-old held off a strong challenge in the Women’s category too, pipping Mira Erda and Phoebe Nongrum to the title. Nevertheless, she is tied with Mira Erda in the overall points tally, though she has bagged four wins, to Mira's eight.
An all-round sportsperson, Anushriya has represented India in shooting and her home state Uttarakhand in basketball while also being an accomplished biker with many firsts to her name. Recounting her exploits over the weekend, a delighted Anushriya spoke about how she took up formula racing only one year back and considered it a real thrill to win two titles in the national racing championship in just her second year of competition. Further, she emphasised how tough it was, as there were many boys in fray in the Rookie category, as well as some experienced ladies in the Women’s category as well.
Founded in 2017 by veteran racer Sarosh Hataria, Ahura Racing created history by launching an all-women’s racing team featuring talented racers from across the country. Further, as many as five out of the six Ahura cars finished in the Top 10 of the Rookie competition this year, no doubt opening many new vistas for women in Indian racing.
“Our entire goal was to encourage Indian women to take up racing,” Sarosh Hataria said. “We had won the Rookie title last year too. Anushriya’s victory once again shows that our girls can compete as equals with boys and even beat them. This augurs very well for the sport,” he added.